Club Brugge vs Aston Villa Prediction: Duran to strike for visitors

Aston Villa will be seeking to extend their perfect start to their Champions League campaign when the visit Club Brugge on Wednesday evening (17:45, live on TNT Sports 2).

Villa are currently top of the 36-team group on maximum points, while the Belgian outfit currently sit just outside the play-off places. Read on for my Club Brugge vs Aston Villa prediction, as well as the latest team news and match odds.

Football Odds

Team News

Club Brugge will be without midfielder Raphael Onyedika, who was shown a straight-red card against AC Milan on matchday three, therefore he'll be suspended for this contest.

Gustaf Nilsson sat out the weekend win against Oud-Heverlee Leuven, despite recently returning from a calf injury, while former Premier League goalkeeper Simon Mignolet will provide Brugge's last line of defence.

As for Villa, Unai Emery has a selection dilemma up front, as Ollie Watkins is their leading Premier League scorer on five goals, one more than Jhon Duran, whose four have all come as a substitute.

Tyrone Mings and Boubacar Kamara have both recently returned from long-term injuries, meaning that Villa's only absentee is Ross Barkley, who has been ruled out until after the international break.

Club Brugge vs Aston Villa Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main Club Brugge vs Aston Villa page on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this match.

The hosts are 9/4 to claim all three points, giving them an implied win probability of 30.8%, while the draw can be backed at 5/2 and it's 23/20 for Villa to continue their perfect start in Europe.

Watkins leads the anytime goalscorer market at 8/5, followed by Duran at 13/8, while Nilsson is shortest-priced for the hosts at 12/5.

Aston Villa to win and both teams to score - yes @ 11/4

Villa shipped four goals in Sunday's defeat to Spurs, and Emery will be looking for a response from his side here.

The Villans find themselves top of the group phase of the competition after winning all three of their fixtures so far, but their loss in the capital at the weekend made it three games without a win.

Brugge have only lost one of their last eight across all competitions and find themselves in good scoring form, netting in each of their last nine.

However, defeats to Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan in the Champions League leave them languishing in 26th place in the table, and they could be in for a difficult evening on Wednesday.

Jhon Duran to score first @ 11/2

As mentioned above, Emery has a selection headache on his hands when it comes to picking his starting striker on Wednesday.

Watkins is Villa's leading scorer domestically, but Duran scored the winner against Bayern Munich on matchday two, and was given the nod against Bologna last time out, scoring in that game too.

After the defeat to Spurs on Sunday, I can see Emery opting to rotate his starting XI and placing his faith in the Colombian from the start, so backing him to score first appeals here at 11/2.

Offers

Tuesday/Wednesday (05/11 – 06/11): Place an In-Play single bet of £10 or more at odds of 1/2+ on any Champions League game on Tuesday or Wednesday and get £5 in Free Bets to use In-Play on Thursday’s Europa League games. (Credited upon Bet Settlement)

Double Delight & Hat-Trick Heaven: Place a pre-match single bet on the first goalscorer market and get DOUBLE or TREBLE the odds if your winning First Goalscorer bet scores a 2nd and 3rd.

Acca Flex: Place a pre-match 5+ leg Football accumulator and get a CASH bonus up to 100% if all of your selections win or your money back as CASH if one leg lets you down.

You can read all our latest Football Betting Tips at our dedicated Betfred Insights content hub.